Monday, October 12, 2009

YESTERDAY I RAN THE STATEN ISLAND HALF & HAD A HUGE PR FROM LAST YEAR, ONLY 3 WEEKS TIL NYC!!!

Yesterday, I ran the Staten Island Half Marathon. I traveled the day before to my brother’s apt (like I did last year), as not to have to wake at the crack of dawn to drive the morning of the race. Haha, but still woke at 5:15 the morning of the race. But it was so nice not having to worry about driving, parking and so on. I ate a salt bagel with peanut butter and honey around 5:45am, with my standard coconut water to wash it down. Was planning to bring another salt bagel for the ride to the start, but forgot it. Oh well. We caught the 7:05 train up to the start, and then walked the half mile or so to the start. And it was cold. The sun was coming up, but the walk was in the shade. I didn’t bring pants, as I wanted to acclimate to the cooler temperatures for the race, but in hindsight that was a mistake. I was freezing, and didn’t really warm up until about mile 4-5. Oh well, live and learn. And my zenzah running arm/calf sleeves should be arriving this week. So can't wait!! Thankfully when we got there the porto-potties were basically empty. Did my thing and then joined up with my friends. My friend John, is a member of the Richmond Rockets running club. After listening to him talk about how great they are, I finally had the chance to meet them (though I had met Amy, Nancy and John C., at the Bronx Half Marathon back in February). They were all awesome. We stashed our bags in the ‘van’, and headed to the start.

My goal for today was to beat 1:51:00. I ran this race last year in 1:57:36, and with my training this year I felt the 1:51:00 goal was doable. My friend Josh, felt I could do better than that, and gave me a plan that would have me crossing the finish at 1:47:11. I felt confident from training that I could do this, but I was concerned about a hill on the course at M8, so I ran the course a bit conservative, to make sure all went well at M8. I was able to really run that mile, and then kick it in for the second half, and really sprint to the finish. Knowing I had so much left at the end, makes me believe I could have run the race more solid/faster, but I am thrilled with my finish time. I crossed the finish at 1:49:05, I whole 8 minutes and 35 seconds faster than last year.

I took a gel 10min before the start and again at mile 7. I rotated water and gatorade from mile 4 on, but then no fluids after mile 11.

Here are my splits from last year, what Josh thought I could do, and what I did this year:

When I ran the race last year, I went out too fast, so when I hit the hill at M8, I was completely spent and died. I was able to bounce back and maintain 9’s or so to the end, but when I crossed the finish (because a runner next to me told me I’ve come too far to quit now), I had nothing left, and was completely exhausted. I truly believe if this runner didn't help me, I would not have finished.

Ironically, I took the first 3 miles about the same this year as I did last year, I did run the next 4 miles a tad conservatively, compared to what Josh predicted, but that was because I was still concerned about the hill at M8 (I know Josh, I trained hard, and should have known/believed in the system, my bad), but I attacked the hill this year strongly, and was able to get the legs going to be more close to your predictions to the end (or I should say my mind, because my legs felt strong throughout). Guess I was concerned I’d crash and burn (when will that feeling ever not be there? I do believe and trust in the system, or at least I think I do. Because based on todays results, that belief didn't show up til after the hill at M8). But, I had so much left at the end, which makes me feel like I could have pushed harder during, and probably met your predicted paces. I do trust you, but I guess my lack of experience kicked in and took things a tad too conservatively. I’m still super pumped as I crushed my times from last year, and felt soooo strong at the end. I felt like I could have kept running. You have been a huge help and an awesome coach. I could never have prepared myself for NYC without your help/experience & guidance. THANK YOU 100 times over!!

Also, a HUGE shoutout to my hubby, aka BeachRunner411, for allowing me to take this journey and always being SO supportive of my long hours of training, which as time went on got longer and longer. I love you beachy!!!

Wow, NYC is in 2 weeks, 6 days. I started this blog/journey back on January 1st, 2008 (tho running started on Jan 2nd), it has now been 21+ months later, 295 runs, and over 1600 miles later. It has been an amazing journey, and though I’m extremely excited for Marathon day, it will be sad to see this journey end (and hopefully my next journey to Boston, as I aim to qualify for Boston on Nov 1st @ NYC). I am very prepared for this day. I have trained hard and to date have seen amazing results. Stay tuned for the final chapter, Nov 1st : the NYC Marathon!! The day, I will be starting my next blog: my journey to the Boston Marathon.

Sorry folks, tried to put the table above together, but it squished when i posted. Don't know how to fix it, hope it's not too confusing. Just wanted to compare last year to this year, and my final results this year to what Josh thought I could achieve. Next year I will achieve that time and better it, cause I won't be afraid of that hill at mile 8. Still not sure why I was this year, but have to leave some room for improvement for next year!!